


Thanksgiving

by Kittenmommy



Series: Loki and Pepper Potts: Conversations, Drinks, and Other Really Bad Ideas [22]
Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, F/M, Kidnapping, Medical Procedures, Mild Language, Torture, nonconsensual touching but no rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-01
Updated: 2012-09-01
Packaged: 2017-11-13 07:04:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/500797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittenmommy/pseuds/Kittenmommy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki takes out his phone.  Before he can make the call, JARVIS interrupts:  “Mister Laufeyson.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Miss Lokidóttir’s iPhone is turned off.”</p><p>Loki leans back in his seat, frowning.</p><p>“Where’s her phone, JARVIS?” Tony asks, and now he’s frowning too.</p><p>“Insufficient data, sir.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thanksgiving

**Author's Note:**

> _The Avengers_ belongs to Marvel.
> 
> "[Who's Sorry Now?](http://www.4shared.com/mp3/3ft0biIL/20_Whos_Sorry_Now.html?)" belongs to Connie Francis.
> 
> "[Good Times](http://www.4shared.com/mp3/bKJGGmDT/21_Good_Times__With_Jimmy_Barn.html?)" belongs to INXS and Jimmy Barnes.
> 
> And I'm not making any money from this.
> 
> * * *
> 
> This fic is probably the darkest thing I've ever written. It's a tough read.
> 
> Sorry about this, everyone. I'm really, _really_ sorry.
> 
> * * *

Pepper opens the oven and peers at the turkey under its tent of aluminum foil.

“Ready yet?” Tony asks.

She reaches in with an instant-read meat thermometer. “No… let’s give it a few more minutes.”

“Hel isn’t here yet anyway,” Clint notes.

“I’m kind of surprised,” Pepper says, shutting the oven. “I thought she’d be here long before now.”

“Well, she only has a limited time,” Clint reasons. “Maybe she’s waiting for dinner to be ready.”

“Maybe.”

Tony frowns and sips his scotch. “What is it, Pep?”

Pepper shakes her head. “I don’t know… I just have a bad feeling.”

“A bad feeling about what?” Loki asks, entering the kitchen.

Pepper and Tony exchange a look. 

“Nothing,” she finally says, and smiles. “Here, let me get you more wine.”

* * *

“Who is she?” a male voice asks.

“No idea,” another male voice responds. “All I know is, she’s magical.”

“She’s wearing an Iron Man t-shirt.”

“Yeah… I don’t really…”

She’s lying on something hard and cold.

“I think she’s waking up,” the first voice says.

She opens her eyes.

She’s flat on her back. Something is holding her down by her neck, wrists and ankles; she can’t move.

She suddenly realizes that she can’t feel her magic.

And two mortal men are bent over her, both in uniform.

“Ah,” the first says. “You _are_ awake!” He’s white and bald, with a horrible scar twisting around the front of his skull. He’s missing an eye.

“Who are you?” the second man demands. He’s got short, curly blond hair, hard, flat reptilian green eyes, and really ugly teeth.

She licks her lips. “What happened? Where am – ”

The bald man smacks her across the face, hard. Tears spring to her eyes.

“ _We_ are asking the questions! _Who are you?_ ”

She swallows. “Hel,” she whispers. “I am Hel. Please…”

The bald man smacks her again. “Where are you from?”

“Niflheim,” she sobs. “I am queen there. Please don’t hit me… I will answer your questions.”

The blond man is holding a tablet. “Hel, Queen of Niflheim,” he reads from the screen. He looks up at the bald man. “Daughter of Loki.”

The bald man grins. “Well, well, well, what a prize indeed,” he gloats. “When I am finished with you, I just may ask Asgard for ransom!”

“Asgard will not pay,” the blond man says immediately. “She was cast out as a monster. And Niflheim is the Realm of The Dead; I doubt they have money.”

“No, we have no riches in Niflheim,” Hel confirms.

“ _Loki_ will pay,” the bald man says.

“My father will kill you,” she says in a very matter-of-fact tone, earning another smack.

“He may _try_ ,” the bald man allows. “But with _your_ help, he will not succeed!” 

As he walks out of the room, he turns and calls over his shoulder to the blond man. “Prepare her.”

* * *

Dinner is on the table, and still no sign of Hel.

“Perhaps she forgot,” Natasha says.

It’s just Clint, Natasha, Tony, Pepper, and Loki. Steve is with his torch singer, and Bruce has gone to his parents’ house for the first time in years.

Loki takes out his phone. Before he can make the call, JARVIS interrupts: “Mister Laufeyson.”

“What?”

“Miss Lokidóttir’s iPhone is turned off.”

Loki leans back in his seat, frowning.

“Where’s her phone, JARVIS?” Tony asks, and now he’s frowning too.

“Insufficient data, sir.”

* * *

The blond man has left Hel in the care of two male underlings.

They are cutting her clothing off her body, stopping every once in a while to touch her here and there.

“She’s cold!”

“Betcha _I_ could warm her up!”

Their laughter is ugly.

She squeezes her eyes shut, biting her lip so she won’t scream. She tries not to feel their hands on her body…

She hears the sound of a zipper.

“Her legs are strapped down together.”

“Her mouth is handy, though.” 

She suddenly realizes what they intend, and clamps her mouth shut.

“Open your mouth!”

She shakes her head.

One of the men slaps her.

“I _said_ , _open your mouth!_ ”

“What is this?” an angry voice demands. 

Hel opens her eyes.

The blond man is back.

“We’re stripping the prisoner as ordered,” one of the underlings explains hastily. 

The other one has his back turned, and she hears the zipper again.

“I ordered her stripped, not violated!” the blond man snaps. “You’ve done your job, so get out, both of you!”

The two men hurry from the room.

The blond man shakes his head, sighing. He motions to someone she can’t see.

“Come on, she’s ready.”

Another man – this one young, dark-haired, and handsome – enters. He’s carrying a case. He comes over to her side and sets the case down, opening it.

“This won’t hurt if you don’t move,” he tells her, and she wonders what he plans and if he’s lying.

He puts on rubber gloves. When he produces the rubber tourniquet from his case, she realizes that he intends to take her blood.

“Who are you people? Why are you doing this?” she asks.

“Be quiet,” the blond man tells her. 

The bald man with the scar comes into the room.

“How are things progressing?” he asks.

The brown-haired man is frowning. “Look at her fingers,” he says to the blond man.

The blond man leans over. “What is it?”

Hel feels her hand being touched by gloved fingers. “Her fingers are black.”

“Her toes are black as well,” the bald man notes from his place against the wall.

“What is this?” the blond man asks her.

She hesitates, and he hits her so hard she sees stars.

“What is this?” he repeats.

She swallows. “It is my curse. If I am away from Niflheim for too long, I will rot.”

“Interesting,” the blond man says.

“What causes it?” the bald man asks.

“It is my curse.”

The blond man smacks her again.

“It is my curse, that is all I know!” she sobs. “Please!”

“You’re going to have to stop hitting her if you want me to take her blood,” the brown-haired man says. “I need her to stay still.”

The bald man motions to the blond man. “Come.”

As they leave together, Hel hears the bald man say, “Figure out what’s making her rot… if we could weaponize it…” 

She doesn’t hear the rest.

 _Oh, Father, where_ are _you?_ she thinks, and bites her lip as she feels the needle sink into her flesh.

* * *

They’re sitting around the table, plates of nearly untouched food in front of them.

Loki has gone to Asgard, to find out if Heimdall can see Hel.

“Should we call Cap and Bruce?” Clint wonders.

Tony shrugs. “I don’t know. This might be nothing.” But he’s switched from scotch to water, and Pepper knows why.

Without a word, she stands and begins clearing the table. No one offers to help.

Pepper feels like they’re all just waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

She takes plates into the kitchen, returns to the table, and pours herself another glass of wine.

“What are we going to do?” she finally asks, standing there sipping her wine.

Natasha is always practical: “What _can_ we do?” she asks with a shrug.

The elevator _dings_ , and they all turn to see Nick Fury striding into the room, expression grim.

“What is it?” Tony asks.

Fury sits down at the table. “Where’s Laufeyson?”

“He went to Asgard,” Pepper says. “Why?”

Fury sighs. “I have just been informed by a deep cover operative that HYDRA has developed a fucking device that enables them to kidnap teleporting magic users.”

“Oh shit,” Clint says. “I think I know what you’re going to say.”

“They have Hel,” Fury confirms. “And they have some kind of magic-dampening field so she can’t get the fuck away.”

“I bet Heimdall won’t be able to see her through that, either,” Pepper says.

Fury shrugs. “I don’t know about that. I _do_ know that they want to use her to develop anti-magical weaponry. And they _also_ intend to discover what’s causing her problem with an aim toward weaponizing _that_ shit, too.”

“Jesus,” Tony says.

“The Council doesn’t want us to go in there and get her,” Fury says. “They don’t want to jeopardize our operative. This operative will do their motherfucking best to protect Hel as much as possible.”

“Fuck that, I’m suiting up,” Tony says, rising to his feet.

“If they can capture people who teleport, what’s to stop them from taking Loki?” Natasha suddenly asks.

Pepper’s eyes widen. “Nothing,” she whispers.

Tony already has his phone in his hand. They wait in tense silence as he makes the call.

“Loki!” he exclaims, and everyone relaxes in relief. “Christ, am I glad to hear your voice. Where are you?”

He listens.

“Yeah, OK, forget about Heimdall. He can go fuck himself.”

He listens some more.

“What? Tell him to go fuck himself. Tell him, ‘Tony Stark says go fuck yourself!’. Do it, right now. And then go find your brother and drag his ass back here with you.”

He listens.

“OK, but when you get to Earth, don’t teleport back to New York.” He glances over at Fury. “We’ll have someone meet you guys at the Bifröst site in New Mexico and bring you back here, all right? This is really important… trust me.”

He ends the call.

“I am not authorizing any kind of operation,” Fury tells them. “The Council says – ”

“Since they obviously don’t give a shit that an innocent girl has been kidnapped and is probably being experimented on, you should ask the Council how they think their newest Avenger is gonna like hearing that we knew where his daughter is and what’s being done to her, and we didn’t do a damn thing about it.” Tony says. “I can fucking _guarantee_ you that that won’t go over well with Loki.”

Fury sighs.

“You have time to warn your operative,” Natasha points out.

“We can even take him or her into custody, make it look legit,” Clint says. “Then later, you could arrange for their ‘escape’.”

Fury frowns, thinking. “That might be doable,” he finally allows. He pulls out his phone. “I have arrangements to make,” he says, and walks out onto the balcony.

“And now…?” Pepper asks.

“We wait,” Natasha says.

Pepper sips her wine.

“Fuck this,” Clint says, rising. “I’m getting ready.”

Natasha nods. “Agreed.”

After they leave, Tony reaches across the table and takes Pepper’s hand.

“It’ll be OK,” he says. “We’ll get her back.”

She nods, not trusting herself to speak.

They sit like that for a while, lost in their own thoughts.

Natasha and Clint reappear. Natasha is in her black catsuit, and Clint has his bow and his arrows are slung over his shoulder.

Fury comes inside, putting his phone away.

“Laufeyson and Odinson are on the ground in New Mexico,” he tells them. “And Operation Liberation is a go.”

“Did you call Steve and Bruce?” Tony asks.

“They’re on their way,” Fury says. He leans forward in his seat. “Now look, we want that base in one piece and as many HYDRA personnel apprehended alive as possible. So you’re gonna have to prepare Laufeyson and Odinson before you go in there.”

Tony frowns. “Prepare them for _what_?”

“They have Hel strapped down on a table. Naked. And evidently there’s been some… inappropriate fondling.”

“Oh fuck, Loki’s gonna take the whole place out,” Clint says.

Natasha’s eyes narrow. “I will help him.”

“No, we want these motherfuckers _alive_ ,” Fury reminds her.

Natasha cracks her knuckles and smiles in a most unsettling way. “So do _I_ , Director Fury.”

* * *

Hel didn’t know that pain like this could even exist.

They had turned her over, and the brown-haired man had warned her “now you’re going to feel something cold” and then he’d painted her hip with something that didn’t feel at all cold as it ran down her side. She had felt the sting of a needle and then numbness.

“This will hurt,” he had said.

She had felt pressure, and then…

Something was biting into her hipbone. From far away, she heard someone screaming and only vaguely realized that it was her.

She must have lost consciousness, because when she opened her eyes again, she was on her back, the brown-haired man looking down at her with an expression of professional concern.

“She’ll be OK,” he’d said to someone outside her range of vision.

“What did you do to me?” she had asked, her voice hoarse from screaming. She hadn’t really expected a reply, but he had surprised her.

“Bone marrow biopsy,” he had explained, and gone away with his samples.

And now she’s lying on her back, feeling something leaking from the hole he’d made in her hipbone.

She hears footsteps approaching, and opens her eyes.

The blond man is back, grinning his ugly grin full of crooked yellow teeth.

“You’re awake,” he murmurs. “That’s good.” 

He reaches out to caress her cheek, and she flinches.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispers. “In fact, I want to make you feel _nice_. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

She doesn’t know what to say. She has a feeling she knows what he wants.

He runs a hand down her side, from her armpit to her waist, ghosting over the swell of her breast. She shudders at his touch.

He leans over her and covers her mouth with his.

He’s revolting, and she struggles as best she can.

He pulls away and buries his face in her neck.

“Soon, you will learn to appreciate me,” he promises.

He licks a trail up the side of her neck and nibbles on her earlobe.

And then his voice is in her ear, whispering.

“Whatever I tell you, you must struggle. You must scream. Do you understand?”

She’s thoroughly confused, but decides that agreement is probably prudent.

“Yes.”

“Good. There are cameras everywhere, and you must give them a show.”

He bites her earlobe, and she flinches away from him.

“I’m with SHIELD, and they’re coming for you. So just hang on.”

She goes completely still.

“Now, scream for me,” he whispers, and pinches her thigh hard.

She screams.

* * *

They meet the quinjet on the roof of Stark Tower.

Steve and Bruce have arrived just in time. The ramp lowers and they all board together.

Pepper follows them up the ramp and spies Loki and Thor sitting together, both in Asgardian armor, their helmets in their laps.

“Loki!” she calls, and he turns to look at her.

His eyes are cold and flat and empty of everything but blind rage.

“Bring her back!” 

He gives her an almost imperceptible nod, and the hatch closes.

She stands there watching the quinjet disappear into the distance… and then she stands there for quite a while longer.

* * *

“So… who wants to be the one?” Bruce asks, gesturing at the Asgardians.

No one comes forward.

Tony sighs. “I’ll do it.”

He heads into the interior of the quinjet, flipping his faceplate down as he goes.

“Guys?” he says, sitting down across from Loki and Thor. “Look… ah…”

“What is it, Tony Stark?” Thor rumbles.

“OK, just… try to remember we’re in the quinjet, and it’s in the air, and some of us can’t fly…”

Loki is regarding him steadily with those rage-filled eyes.

“Speak plainly, Stark,” he says, and his voice is _terrifying_.

“Sir,” JARVIS says, “the ambient temperature inside the quinjet has dropped by twenty degrees Fahrenheit.”

Tony sighs. “Look, all right… the people who have Hel… they’re doing these, these _tests_ on her.” Loki opens his mouth to speak, and Tony just plunges on ahead. “They, ah… they actually have her tied down to this table.”

From outside, Tony hears the distant rumble of thunder.

“Sir,” JARVIS says, “the ambient – ”

“Fuck off, JARVIS.” He turns his attention back to the two Asgardians. “They… they may havetakenoffallherclothes too.”

Loki blinks.

“They’ve… what?”  


“We’re in the quinjet! We’re airborne!”

“Yes, Stark, I _am_ aware!”

“Sir – ” JARVIS begins.

“They stripped her,” Tony says. “They stripped her and tied her to a table. Naked.”

Outside, the thunderstorm begins in earnest.

Inside, Tony sees frost creeping up the walls.

“Just… let’s get there in one piece, OK guys? And when we get there, Fury wants us to, ah minimize casualties.”

A truly malevolent smile spreads across Loki’s face, and Tony shudders inside his armor. 

“I have every intention of taking them alive, Stark,” he says very quietly “Though I make no promises how long they will _remain_ that way.”

* * *

The brown-haired man is looking troubled.

“We usually do this in an OR, under general anesthetic,” he’s telling the bald man.

“We don’t have those facilities here,” the bald man replies. “She will simply have to endure the pain.”

“It will be agonizing.”

The bald man shrugs. “That is of no concern to me.”

The brown-haired man looks down at Hel for the first time. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “I really am.”

“Please…” she whispers.

He motions to someone else in the room, and the blond man appears.

“Mask.” The blond man ties a surgical mask over the brown-haired man’s nose and mouth. 

He paints her side with more of that liquid… she feels it running down her side and pooling underneath her. He turns to a tray of instruments and picks up a big syringe with a very long needle.

“I’m sorry,” he tells her again.

There is a loud explosion, and the lights flicker.

“What was that?” the blond man asks.

“I will see,” the bald man says, hurrying from the room. As he leaves, he calls “Continue!” over his shoulder.

“I think not,” the man in the mask says, putting down the syringe. 

The blond man scowls at him. “You heard him. Continue!”

“No.” He pulls his mask down. “Not until we see what’s happening. I don’t want to end up lacerating her spleen and having her bleed out all over the place before I can do anything to stop it.”

“Dammit!” the blond man swears.

The lights flicker, dim, go out.

“Where’s the emergency lights?” the blond man shouts in the darkness.

“Right here!” a mechanized voice says, and then the blond man is being propelled across the room by a beam of blue energy.

The only light in the room is coming from a pair of glowing blue eyes and a triangular-shaped blue light a bit below.

There is the sound of something mechanical, and then a brilliant light is burning Hel’s eyes.

“Sorry, sorry,” the mechanical voice says, and the light swings away from her face. 

Suddenly, the lights come back on.

Now she can see her rescuer: Iron Man.

“Tony!” she exclaims. “Where is Father?”

“Taking care of business.” He drapes something over her, something soft and green that smells like safety: her father’s cape.

“Thank you, Tony.” There are tears running down her face. “Thank you!”

Tony suddenly glances over at the man with the surgical mask. “Don’t even think about it, Doctor Mengele,” he says, aiming his gauntlet. Hel hears an instrument clatter on the floor.

The Hulk comes rampaging into the room, roaring in rage.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down, Broccoli,” Tony says. “You’ve got a patient here, Doctor Banner.”

With a final growl, Bruce is standing there, shirtless and blinking at his surroundings.

“On it, Tony.”

“Hey, you! Mengele!” Tony points his gauntlet at the other doctor. “Tell him what you’ve done to her. _Everything_.”

“Routine bloodwork. Bone marrow biopsy. Some radiographs. That’s it so far.”

“They were going to do something else, but you stopped them.”

“Liver biopsy.”

“Without general anesthetic?” Bruce looks sick. 

The man shrugs. “We don’t have the facilities.”

“That would be _torture_ ,” Bruce says.

The man shrugs again. “I do what I have to do.”

“Oh yeah,” Tony says. “We’re _definitely_ saving _this_ guy for Loki!” 

Bruce is leaning over her, examining her bruised face. “What – ”

“They hit me,” Hel says.

“I don’t think anything’s broken,” he says, prodding the bruises gently. He looks up at Tony. “Let’s see about getting her loose.”

“Mengele,” Tony says, jerking a thumb at the other doctor. “Get her off that thing.”

Scowling, the other doctor rises.

Bruce lifts up Loki’s cape to examine the metal cuffs that bind her to the table. “Wait,” he says.

“What?”

“How long has she been here?”

“Four… no, five hours,” Tony replies, and they can hear the frown in his voice. “Why?”

“Look.”

Tony comes over, flipping his faceplate up. “What?”

“What is it?” Hel asks, straining her neck to see.

“Her hand is black,” Tony says. “Didn’t we expect that?”

“She’s been here _five hours_ , Tony.”

And then Tony sees it. “Something’s stopping the rot from spreading up her arm!”

He runs around the table and lifts the cape covering Hel’s other arm. “Same here! It hasn’t spread above the cuff!”

Bruce moves to the foot of the table and lifts the cape. “Yeah, and here. The rot hasn’t gone above her ankles.”

They exchange a look.

“Let’s get her off this table, but leave the cuffs on. Get ‘em back to the lab and analyze ‘em.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Bruce agrees.

Tony glances over at the other doctor, who’s raising a scalpel to his own neck. “Hey! Stop him!”

Green energy lashes out, stunning him. He drops to the floor.

Loki comes striding into the room.

“Father!” Hel cries.

He runs to her, pulling off his helmet as he goes. 

He bends over her, putting his forehead against hers. “Oh, my own,” he murmurs, stroking her face. He pulls away, and his cheeks are wet with tears. “They will pay for this,” he promises darkly.

“Not the blond man,” Hel says. Loki frowns. “Tony shot him… he’s on the floor back there somewhere. He is SHIELD.”

Tony walks over to appraise the unconscious man. “He’s the operative inside?”

“I guess so,” Hel replies. 

“He did not harm you?” Loki asks.

“He _did_ hit me, but I see now that it was part of the ruse. He protected me from those men who would have used my mouth… later, he said you were coming for me.”

“What men, Hel?” Loki asks, and frost is forming on the walls.

“I do not know their names, but I would know them if I saw them again.” She shudders. “I will _never_ forget their faces!”

“I’m pretty sure that by the time your dad’s done with them, they won’t _have_ faces,” Tony says.

“Some help here, Tony?” Bruce asks.

Steve comes running into the room. “You found her?”

“Yeah, Cap. I said so, didn’t I?” Tony asks.

“Hel… good grief,” Steve says, looking sick. “Who did this to you?”

“They are _mine_ , Rogers,” Loki says in a dangerous tone.

Tony is using a small finger laser to separate the cuff around Hel’s right hand from the table.

“We’re going to bring them to justice!” Steve tells Loki.

“You certainly may bring whatever is left of them when I am done with them to justice,” Loki agrees.

“Betcha you could keep ‘em in a shoebox,” Tony adds. He has Hel’s right hand free, and moves down to the foot of the table.

Thor comes striding into the room, Mjölnir in hand, his face like a storm cloud.

“Niece!” he booms. “Those who have done this to you will pay!”

“Yeah, I think Loki’s already covered it,” Tony says. He frees her feet and moves on to her left hand.

“Brother, the Hawk and the Widow are mopping up the last of the enemy forces; truly, they were a small, ill-prepared group, with no heart or stomach for battle.”

“Good,” Loki says, stroking his daughter’s hair. “You took them alive?”

Thor grins. “All of them. More SHIELD agents are on their way to help collect them.”

“And we found their magical tech,” Steve says. “Including the device they used to kidnap Hel.”

“Great, let’s get that all back to the lab,” Tony says. He has Hel’s hand free, and now all that remains is the cuff around her neck.

And finally, Hel is free.

Bruce and Loki help her sit up. Thor stands over her, murmuring soothing words in another language.

“Get her some water,” Bruce says, and Tony glances around until he finds a sink.

“Uhhh…” He sees a bowl on the tray of surgical instruments, and grabs that.

Bruce is wrapping Loki’s cape around Hel when Tony comes over with the water. She takes the bowl in her blackened hands and drinks greedily.

Clint and Natasha come into the room.

“That’s it, guys,” Clint says. “It’s a wrap. SHIELD agents are here to process the prisoners and take them away.”

Loki’s eyes narrow. “Show them to Hel first. There are certain prisoners who will require my _personal_ attention.”

“Loki – ” Steve begins.

“I’ll see to it,” Natasha says, and her smile is terrifying. “When Hel is up to it, let me know.”

A look passes between Loki and Natasha. “I think we understand one another very well,” he finally says.

“Yes,” she agrees, and leaves.

“Come on, let’s get her out of here,” Bruce says. “Can you walk?”

“I… I think so.”

“Then let’s go,” Tony says.

* * *

They’re in the Avengers’ living room.

Hel is in a grey SHIELD sweatshirt and matching sweatpants. She has grey socks on her feet and little black gloves on her hands.

She’s sipping carefully from a bowl of lukewarm soup. “Drink it all,” Pepper tells her. “You need your strength.”

“Is there anything I can get you, Hel?” Steve asks, looking ready to run right out and get her a piece of the Moon itself if she said she needed it.

“Thank you, no, Steve,” she says quietly. “It is so good to feel safe.” She curls her feet under herself.

“No one will come close, I promise,” Thor says. He’s got Mjölnir in his hand.

Loki is sitting close beside her, rubbing her shoulders.

“Where are Clint and Natasha?” Pepper suddenly asks.

“I have no idea,” Tony says innocently, and sips his scotch.

“How are your arms and legs, Hel?” Bruce asks.

“Come see,” she invites. 

Bruce goes to sit beside her. She offers him her hand, and he rolls up her sleeve.

Above the cuff, her flesh is pale and unmarked.

“Whatever these cuffs are made of, they’re stopping the rot,” Bruce says, frowning.

“But they also inhibit my magic,” Hel says unhappily. “I will wear them forever if I must, but…”

“But you’d rather not,” Bruce finishes for her.

“Yes,” she says, and frowns. “I feel… I suppose I feel as you would if you lost your sight and your hearing.”

“Magic is part of us,” Loki tells Bruce. “Down to the marrow of our bones.”

Hel shudders at this. “Do not remind me. That was _terrible_.”

“I am sorry, my dear,” Loki says, pulling her close.

“Loki,” Tony says softly, reaching down to touch his shoulder. “C’mere… I want to show you something.”

“All right, Stark,” he agrees, rising to his feet with a frown. “I will be right back, Hel.”

“Yes, Father.” She beams up at him. “I am not afraid; Uncle is here, and all of our friends. They will keep me safe.”

Loki smiles. “Yes. Yes, they will.”

As Tony and Loki leave together, Pepper takes Loki’s place on the sofa beside Hel and puts her arms around her.

“What do you wish to show me, Stark?” Loki murmurs as he follows Tony into the elevator.

“You’ll see.”

They ride up to his penthouse in silence.

“JARVIS,” Tony calls as they exit the elevator. “Where are Clint and Natasha?”

He goes over to the bar and snags the crystal decanter full of scotch and two glasses.

“SHIELD headquarters, sir,” comes the immediate answer. “Interrogation Rooms 1A and 1B.”

“Where’s Natasha?”

He moves to the sofa and flops down, gesturing for Loki to join him.

“Interrogation Room 1A, sir.”

“And who’s in there with her?” Tony asks, pouring out the drinks.

“I believe she is with one of the men who Miss Lokidóttir identified.”

Tony grins. “Show me the live feed. Put it on the main screen.”

The screen is black.

There’s music playing.

Tony grins. “Looks like she disabled the cameras and mics,” Tony says smugly. “Guess she doesn’t want any record of what’s going on in there.”

“ _– you had your way, now you must pay,_ ” a woman is singing. “ _I’m glad that you’re sorry now._ ”

The song ends. There's a pause, and then it begins again: “ _Who’s sorry now? Who’s sorry now? Whose heart is achin’ for breakin’ each vow? Who's sad and blue? Who's crying too? Just like I cried over you._ ”

“JARVIS, let’s see what Clint is up to… who’s he got in there with him?”

“That doctor, I believe, sir.”

“Show us Clint,” Tony says, sipping his drink.

The screen remains black, but the music changes: “ _– and this is what I’m gonna do, I’ve gotta put a call to you. ’Cause I feel good tonight, and everything’s gonna be right, right, right!_ ”

“Oh, look,” Tony says. “Guess Clint doesn’t want anyone to see what _he’s_ up to either! Imagine that!”

He looks over at Loki, and sees that the god is grinning with approval.

“ _I'm gonna have a good time tonight, rock and roll music gonna play all night. C’mon baby, it won’t take long, only take a minute just to sing my song. I’m gonna have a good time tonight, rock and roll music gonna play all night…_ ”

“I don’t know about you, buddy,” Tony says, sipping his scotch. “But that sure is music to _my_ ears!”

Loki clicks his glass against Tony’s, and they both down their drinks in a single gulp.

* * *

They’re so deep in conversation that they don’t hear the elevator _ding_.

Suddenly, Steve looks over and the color drains from his face.

“Geepers crow criminy dutch!” he exclaims. 

The others follow his gaze.

The man stepping off the elevator is wearing a black suit and dark sunglasses, even though it’s night and they’re inside.

“Agent Coulson,” Pepper exclaims, astonished. “I thought you were…”

“Dead?” he asks, and smiles. “Rumors of my death were… slightly exaggerated.” He looks down at Hel, curled up on the sofa next to Pepper. “And how are you feeling, Hel?”

She frowns at him. “Do I know you?”

He grins at her, and his voice _changes_ : “Scream for me,” he says.

FINIS.

**Author's Note:**

> References:
> 
> [Josef Mengele](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengele).
> 
> As before, there's this one: _Match Game_. "[Geepers crow criminy dutch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCM-58J_3Ig)" was a favorite censor-friendly "profanity" of the late celebrity panelist Brett Somers.
> 
> * * *
> 
> The idea for this fic began with Natasha "interrogating" someone to the strains of "Who's Sorry Now?" on repeat. We never see or hear what she's doing, but the song just keeps playing over and over and over again...


End file.
